BWW Reviews: CABARET SAUVIGNON, Trafalgar Studios, September 22 2012

Cabaret Sauvignon – well, the name pretty much says it all. Like the wine, Barbershopera's show is popular, inoffensive but perhaps lacking just a little in bite for some palates. 

Three guys and a gal banter with the audience and then launch into barbershop's traditional doo-wopping harmonies, as they assume the roles of four unsuccessful suitors of Kate Middleton. There's more later about Ken Livingstone, travelling on the tube and an epic digression into The Apocalypse. There's biscuits and singalong and a bit of cub scout bashing amidst the bom-bom-bom-tiddly-bom-bom-boming – all very engaging and sung with skill, up close and without amplification. 

It feels like an Edinburgh show; a feeling underlined when a song explains the dubious delights of working The Fringe. But there's nothing wrong with a bit of Edinburghiness in the centre of London. If the satire could be harsher, the bonhomie could not be more engaging. As an hour's diversion as London battens down the hatches for a winter of chilly winds through its streets and its economy, Barbershopera's sense of fun may be just what's needed. 

Cabaret Sauvignon continues at The Trafalgar Studios until October 6.   

Gary Naylor is chief reviewer for westend.broadwayworld.com and feels privileged to see so much of London's theatre. He writes about cricket at nestaquin.wordpress.com and also for The Guardian, Spin Cricket and Channel Five and commentates at testmatchsofa.com. His writing on films and other subjects is at tootingtrumpet.wordpress.com. Comments are always welcome.

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